The present invention relates to smoking articles such as cigarettes, and in particular, to those smoking articles having a short fuel element and a physically separate aerosol generating means. These smoking articles are capable of providing the smoker with the pleasures of smoking (e.g., smoking taste, feel, satisfaction, and the like). The following U.S. Pat. Nos. are directed to such articles; 4,714,082; 4,732,168; 4,756,318; 4,771,795; 4,782,644; 4,793,365; 4,802,568; 4,819,665; 4,827,950; 4,854,331; 4,858,630; 4,881,556; 4,989,619; 4,893,637; 4,893,639; 4,903,714; 4,917,128; 4,928,714; 4,938,238; 4,966,171; 4,967,774; 4,981,522; 4,989,619; 4,991,606; 5,019,122; 5,020,548; 5,027,836; 5,027,837; 5,033,483; 5,042,509; 5,052,413; 5,060,666; 5,065,776; 5,067,499; 5,076,292; 5,076,296; 5,076,297; 5,088,507; 5,099,861; 5,105,831; 5,105,837; 5,119,834; 5,119,837; 5,129,409; 5,133,368; 5,137,034; 5,146,934; 5,156,170; 5,159,940; 5,178,167; 5,183,062; 5,188,130; 5,203,355; 5,211,684; 5,240,016; 5,247,947; and 5,303,720, and their disclosures are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Many of the smoking articles described in the above cited prior art employ a combustible fuel element for heat generation and an aerosol generating means positioned physically separate from, and in a heat exchange relationship with, the fuel element. The aerosol generating means typically includes one or more aerosol forming substances such as glycerin in or on a substrate or carrier. These smoking articles also normally include tobacco in various forms such as cut filler, reconstituted tobaccos, densified pellets, tobacco dust and tobacco extracts, as well as tobacco flavor modifiers and tobacco flavoring agents. During smoking, heat generated by the fuel element acts to volatilize the aerosol forming substances, thereby providing an aerosol which resembles tobacco smoke. Such smoking articles yield extremely low levels of visible sidestream smoke as well as low levels of FTC "tar."
Many of the smoking articles described above employ an insulated fuel element and some use an insulating material such as nonrespirable glass fibers. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,027,836, and 5,303,720. One common example of such glass fibers is Owen-Corning C-glass, the fibers of which have an average diameter of about 8 .mu.m. Other types of insulating material sometimes include tobacco, tobacco paper, alumina, mineral wool, carbon, organic polymers, pearlite glass, calcium sulfate fibers, and/or calcium or sodium phosphate fibers. The present invention represents an alternative to the previously employed insulating materials.